CM hikes aid for building rural toilets by 150%

CHENNAI: In a move that will ensure total sanitation in villages, Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Thursday announced 150 per cent hike in the State government’s contribution to construction of Individual House-Hold Latrines (IHHL) in rural areas under the Total Sanitation Campaign.As per the existing norms, the unit cost for IHHL is fixed at Rs 3,500 out of which, the Centre  gives `2,200 and the State Government contributes Rs 1,000 towards the subsidy. Beneficiary contribution is Rs 300. With the CM’s announcement in the Assembly, hereafter, the State government’s contribution will be Rs 2,500.   The CM said she hiked the State’s contribution accepting representations that  the present unit cost fixed for constructing a latrine are insufficient to build a complete latrine. She said that the measure would ensure sanitation in all villages. The CM recalled that during the previous AIADMK regime, a Clean Village Campaign was launched to ensure total sanitation in all villages.   After the AIADMK took over in 2011, the CM has ordered resumption of awarding cash prize of Rs 5 lakh to Village Panchayats with 100 per cent sanitation coverage. As many as  12,793 sanitary complexes constructed under the Integrated Sanitary Complexes for Women, which were in a state of disuse have been renovated at a cost of Rs 170 crore. The policy note for the Rural Development Department for the year 2012-13 said the government has given a new thrust to declaring Tamil Nadu as an ‘Open Defecation Free State’, by strengthening institutional arrangements for implementation, ensuring availability of funds, provision of infrastructure facilities and also through sustained Information Education Communication (IEC)  campaigns.Under the IHHL component, against the Tamil Nadu target of 44,22,133, up to 38,32,686 toilets have been constructed as on February 29, 2012.